Always and Forever
by teachmetodance
Summary: It's been ten years since Sasuke left Sakura on that bench. Since then, everything has changed. Now, Sakura is being sent on a mission to look into a sighting of Sasuke. But he's supposedly with Akatsuki.


Sakura was walking through the village on her way to see the Hokage. She was taking the scenic route, mainly because she loved walking at this time. It was still hot from the summer day, but the sun was setting and the evening breeze was cool. Everything was cast in shadow and Sakura thought it was beautiful. She didn't often get to see her village at twilight, and it was her favorite time of day.

As she passed different family complexes, she could hear the laughing and screaming of children playing. She stopped and waved as she passed the Nara complex. Shikamaru and Temari were on their porch watching their children play. They waved back, and Sakura smiled as she continued her trek. She thought about how wonderful it was that Suna and Konoha were finally, truly at peace. It made life so much easier, having strong allies. Plus, Sakura always loved seeing her friends happy, and the Nara's were definitely that.

She was walking passed the training grounds, and she couldn't stop that wave of nostalgia that washed over her. She saw a group of genin sparring, and smiled to herself, remembering the last time the Rookie Nine got together. Even though they were all grown, and most of them had families, they always made time, at least once a month, to get together. The meetings were never scheduled, not even the first one. They just became a kind of tradition.

_**5 years earlier...**_

* * *

_Sakura was sitting at the bar, silently sipping a cup of sake. The patrons of the bar gave her looks that spoke of the oddity they believed she was, but no one tried to say anything to her. She was, after all, the legendary Godaime's apprentice._

_Not only that, but everyone knew the Konoha 11 had been through a lot. This fact was widely acknowledged and accepted throughout the village, and no one begrudged any of them a drink-or ten._

_So that's where Ino, Tenten, and Hinata found Sakura. The girls were silent as they took seats around the pink-haired kunoichi, the bartender placing three more full cups in front of them. Sakura had been frequenting the bar more and more lately, and her friends were getting worried. Naruto still wasn't back yet, and no one had heard from him in a week. Kakashi was always away on ANBU missions, throwing himself into the line of danger with no thought to the consequences._

_"Hey Forehead, I bet I can get more numbers from the guys in here than you can," Ino said. She wasn't really that concerned with getting numbers, she was just trying to get some kind of reaction, but all she got was a crooked half-smile over the brim Sakura's cup and a slight eye roll._

_Ino sat back, turning on her bar stool so she was facing the door, scanning the bar area. As she was pouting, the door opened yet again and Kiba, Shino and Choji walked in together, all laughing at something or other. Ino instantly brightened up and waved them over._

_"What's going on girls? If you wanted to drink, you could have just asked. I have some at home, and it's much happier there!" Kiba practically shouted, which was largely unnecessary. His words caught Ino's attention and she began formulating a plan._

_Shino sat next to Hinata and Tenten, refusing a cup of sake. Kiba leaned over and took the offered cup right out of Hinata's hand and downed it with one gulp. He grinned at her and kissed her cheek, causing his teammate to blush a deep red and swat at him halfheartedly. Tenten raised an eyebrow at this. "Kiba, you seem as though you've already had quite a bit to drink. Do you really need any more?"_

_Kiba grinned at the weapons mistress. "Nope! But I still have some at my house."_

_Tenten rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. She looked at Sakura who was still looking a bit forlorn._

_It was at that moment when the door opened yet again, admitting Shikamaru and Neji, neither of whom seemed to take notice of the glares they were receiving. The two geniuses seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument, something about diversionary tactics and escape routes._

_It was, believe it or not, this argument that finally broke Sakura's revere. She perked up as the two men came closer to the group and visibly brightened. Ino, taking note of this change in demeanor, decided now was the time to put her plan into motion._

_"I agree with Kiba. This place is depressing. Let's go back to my apartment and drink there!" She was mainly directing this at Sakura, watching her face. Sakura herself sighed in resignation, knowing that there was no way she would be able to get any peace and quiet tonight. "Okay. Sounds great. But we'll need more alcohol than just what Kiba has hidden in his room from his mom." Kiba grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "So does anyone else have any, or do we need to buy some?"_

_Under Sakura and Ino's direction, the group split up into three. Kiba, Shino, and Tenten were sent to go by everyone's house or apartment and see if there was any alcohol. Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji were sent to buy copious amounts of sake from any and all places that would sell to them. Hinata, Ino, and Sakura headed to Ino's apartment to clean it up some, so everyone had somewhere to pass out when it came to that._

_Two hours later and the Konoha 11, minus Naruto, could be found at Ino's, all in various stages of drunkenness. Sakura and Shikamaru were the only ones who didn't seem to be actually drunk. Choji and Lee, who had been found by some group or another and dragged to the party, were passed out. Neji and Tenten had disappeared, mumbling something about "it's really hot in here, I need some air" at about the same time, and Ino and Kiba had gone back into Ino's bedroom._

_Hinata and Shino were talking animatedly, something Shino only did with his insects and Hinata never did with anyone. It was at this point that Guy burst into Ino's apartment, carrying and bloody and bruised Kakashi._

_Sakura and Shikamaru, who had been playing a game of chess, both stood, surprise evident on their faces. "Kakashi-sensei!"_

_"Sakura!" Kurenai came running in behind Guy and Kakashi. "Sakura, you have to heal him. Tsunade is swamped in the hospital, along with Shizune. You're the only other person he would let touch him." Kurenai said all this while rushing around Ino's apartment, clearing off the large table in the kitchen and placing a sheet over it. Guy laid Kakashi out on it as the medic in Sakura overtook the student and she moved forward._

_Hinata spoke up from the corner, where she and Shino were attempting to wake Lee and Choji up. "Kurenai-sensei, how did you know where to find all these things?" Hinata gestured to the pile of medic supplies that was constantly growing on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Kurenai paused in her speeding throughout the apartment._

_"Kiba is over here more often than he's at home. This isn't the first time I've ransacked Ino's apartment." She said this last part with a feral grin that made Hinata think of Kiba himself._

_As if hearing his name, Kiba poked his head out of Ino's door. Catching sight of Kakashi bleeding out on Ino's kitchen table and Sakura standing over him, her hands green as she pushed her healing chakra into her sensei, he gave a yelp and closed the door once more. In a split second, he and Ino stumbled out of the room, Ino rushing over to help Sakura, Kiba gathering more supplies from around the house. Both looked as though they had thrown their clothes on in a hurry, in the dark._

_Asuma came in then, surveyed the scene before him, and walked back out. A moment later, he came back in with a bucket of water, which he proceeded to throw on Lee and Choji, efficiently dousing Hinata and Shino as well. All four jumped up with a scream._

_"What was that for Asuma-sensei!" all four yelled in unison._

_"Well, it sobered all of you up, didn't it?" Asuma grinned at them._

_"Will you all just shut up? I need to concentrate!" Sakura's voice shouted above them all and everyone froze._

_Sakura took a deep breath and looked at Guy, who was standing at Kakashi's head. "Tell me what happened."_

_Guy pulled up one of Ino's kitchen chairs and sat heavily in it. He stared down at Kakashi._

_"This wasn't a high level mission. Kakashi was simply training some new ANBU. They were still in our border, even. They got ambushed, and 3 of the 4 recruits were killed."_

_Kiba butt in, "that doesn't mean anything. This is Kakashi! The legendary copy-nin of Konoha! Some ambush on a bunch of new ANBU? He wouldn't have let them do so much damage!"_

_"Kiba shut up and let him tell what happened!" Kurenai never had much patience for her student's outbursts._

_"Thank you, Kurenai. Kiba is right though. Kakashi shouldn't have been so injured, and he wouldn't have been if these enemies had been planning an attack on the new ANBU."_

_"Guy, you can't mean...Kakashi was the target?" Everyone, except Sakura, stopped and looked at Guy._

_He sighed. "Yes, Ino, I'm afraid that's what I believe. Either that, or someone wanted to hurt those close to Kakashi."_

_"Like Naruto? But he isn't here? How does that make sense?" Shikamaru hit Kiba on the back of the head. "OW! What was that for?"_

_"Baka. Sakura is closer to Kakashi than Naruto was. Even closer than him and Sasuke."_

_"But who would want to hurt Sakura? And why?"__ Kiba asked, still rubbing his head._

_Neji and Tenten had strolled in, hand-in-hand and looking quite content._ _They took in the scene and Tenten immediately turned back around and ran to go find Shizune. If by some miracle Sakura_did_manage to heal Kakashi, she would be practically dead on her feet and would need healing herself._

_"I'm not sure, to be honest. The only one of the kids that survived had run back to the village when Kakashi distracted his attackers. Takero rushed to tell Tsunade what happened, but she was so busy she couldn't do anything. Luckily I was there and heard him, and was able to go out and find Kakashi. This was how he looked when I found him."_

_"Did he say anything about who attacked him, Guy-sensei?" Tenten and Shizune had come back, Shizune rushing to Sakura's side, Tenten going to stand with Neji, taking his hand once more._

_"Well, all he said was something about Uchiha and mistakes."_

_This caused Sakura to pause for just a moment. It was very slight and would've gone unnoticed by all had Hinata not been testing her Byakugan, wondering what Kakashi looked like on the inside. She could see Sakura's hands shaking and knew the other girl wanted to be out there, discovering what had happened._

_"Which Uchiha though?" Kurenai spoke thoughtfully, finally sitting down on the couch next to Asuma. "That's the real question. Sasuke could be back in the area, though if he were attacking, he would've most likely been with Sound shinobi. If it was Itachi...the Akatsuki must be near by. Someone needs to tell Tsunade about this!"_

_Sakura took an audible breath, steadying her hands and her mind at the same time. Shizune placed a hand on Sakura shoulder, filling her with extra chakra._

_A few hours found them all still in Ino's living room and kitchen. Ino managed to find some alcohol that hadn't been drank already to disinfect the gaping hole in Kakashi's chest. She said they didn't need to waste the chakra. She and Sakura were both standing over Kakashi's limp form, the light from the green and blue chakra casting shadows across his face. Sakura was practically forcing her chakra into Kakashi's body. Ino, who was only trained as a field medic (which meant that she knew only the medical jutsus that would keep a teammate alive, without using too much chakra, until they could get to an actual medic) was simply feeding her blue chakra into Sakura's body to both keep her standing up straight and also to give her more chakra to heal Kakashi._

_Shizune was hovering right behind Sakura, knowing she couldn't interfere if she wanted Sakura's healing to stick. She also knew that since Tsunade herself had trained her, Sakura was better able to handle this level of extensive healing. Really, she was just there to make sure Sakura didn't kill herself trying to heal Kakashi._

_Sakura had her eyes shut, looking inside of Kakashi with her chakra. She felt everyone's presence in the back of her mind, but it was at a distance. She was just focused on the damage done to her sensei's body. She was shoving her chakra inside of him, knowing it was helping. There was just so much damage that no matter how hard she pushed it didn't seem to be making a difference. He was still alive, she knew that. She just didn't know how long she could keep him that way._

_The rest of the group was in the living room, spread out. Kiba was holding Hinata, who was shaking uncontrollably, while Shino sat on the couch next to them. On the other side of the couch was Lee, with Guy perched on the armrest. Shikamaru and Neji were playing shogi, with Asuma standing over them, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Any time it seemed to be at the last drag, he would simply use the lit one to light up another._

_Kurenai sat leaning against the wall by the kitchen in between Choji and Tenten, with her head in her hands. Choji was stress eating, a pile of empty potato chip bags spread out around him. Tenten was throwing kunai at the wall on the other side of the room, always hitting the same spot._

_It was now almost 5 o'clock in the morning, and the gathered shinobi watched the sun rise out the open door. It had gotten unbearably hot in the little apartment, with all of them crowded around. At some point during the night they had decided to open all of the windows to try and catch some breeze._

_This was how Tsunade found them all. She had woken up nursing a hangover and struggling to remember what had happened the night before. She remembered leaving the hospital completely exhausted and going to find some form of alcohol to disinfect her mind. The last thing she even vaguely remembered was Neji and Tenten running in, yelling something about an injured Kakashi and Sakura practically killing herself to heal him. Shizune ran out with them, leaving Tsunade to pass out all by herself._

_When the Godaime woke up and couldn't find Shizune or Sakura, she started to get worried. Then, when all her inquiries as to the whereabouts of all her best shinobi received the same answer, that no one had seen them since last night, Tsunade decided to investigate._

_Her investigation brought her to Ino's apartment, and the scene before her._

_She stood in the door, taking in everything, especially Sakura, Ino, and Shizune's chakra levels. They were all dangerously low, Sakura feeding her very life force into her sensei. Then, Tsunade burst into action._

_In less than an hour, Tsunade had healed Kakashi mostly, poured some of her own chakra into Sakura to speed her recovery up, and had everyone except the medics cleaning Ino's apartment or cooking._

_That night, they all met again, this time at Sakura's. They all knew she would only be thinking of Kakashi, who was still in the hospital, or the Uchiha brothers. Tsunade actually told them to go and keep her company. "Sakura might get it into her head to try and go get some answers herself, if left alone."_

_ Most everyone was, yet again, drunk, and someone decided it would be funny to see Shikamaru and Neji spar, since they talked strategy so often. Then, in the middle of the fight, Kiba and Choji joined in, which led to an all out brawl between all the Konoha 10._

_It was a wonderful way to let off steam and anger and sadness. They all needed it, and soon enough it was a new tradition. It had actually become a regular party for the Konoha residents. Everyone would come see them, and bets were soon taken. Tsunade herself always bet on Sakura, and Sakura almost always won._

* * *

When Naruto returned, without Sasuke, Sakura was overjoyed and deeply upset at the same time. She had vowed not to let Sasuke take over any more of her life, and from then on she lived for herself and her loved ones. The ones who actually loved her back.

It didn't take long for Naruto to join them in their battle. It was always fought to the last one standing. Sakura, ever the medic, would let everyone know when she felt they were out, which was when they could physically not fight any longer.

She loved the days when the Rookie Nine would get out there and have one large battle. They always wrecked the training yards-more often than not they ruined more than one. The Hokage loved and hated when they all got together. Even now, with all of them being of at least jonin rank, if not higher, they still made time every so often to get out there and destroy the fields.

Sakura was passing over the bridge they always met Kakashi at. She smiled even larger. Even Kakashi, Naruto and herself made or found time every month to have dinner together. Usually ramen-some things never change. Sakura paused and looked up. Through the trees she could see the stars beginning to appear and she felt tears come to her eyes. She shook her head and blinked the tears away as she continued walking.

It had been ten years since the night Sasuke left her on that bench. Ten long years, and she still couldn't think about it, or about the empty place in her life, without tears coming to her eyes. It seemed like no matter how much they grew or how great and busy their lives were, the three of them couldn't help but think about the 'what if's' of him being there. It hurt, but they found it necessary. None of them had given up hope that he would be found. They just had decided that until then, they would get stronger. And the first step to that was to live life as though nothing was wrong.

So that was what they did. Kakashi never trained another team, but he went back to ANBU. He threw himself into it, but still made time to help Sakura and Naruto whenever they asked. He was happiest when they were all together, either training or out to dinner. He never missed it when the Rookie Nine got together. All the sensei's made sure they had front row seats. Then they would go out for drinks and brag about their students. More than once, Sakura had woken up in the morning and found her sensei passed out drunk on her couch because he had come to get her so he could prove once and for all that he had the best students.

She had made it to the Hokages office by then. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that she hadn't even knocked. She just walked right in.

The Hokage knew the look on her face. "SAKURA-CHAN!" he shouted, right in her ear. That promptly got him punched; though not by one of Sakura's full power ones.

Yes, Naruto finally did it. Sakura smiled at him as he sat in front of her at his desk. (Being the Hokages main advisor had its perks; one being that she had full access to his office whenever she wanted. Another being that she had her own seat right next to his, complete with a small desk.) He finally became Hokage. And she couldn't have been more proud of him. He was really the greatest ninja. Everyone believed it, too. He never grew up either, not really. Of course, he could be serious when he needed to be, and he could tell when it was necessary now. But generally, he was still the happy-go-lucky little kid everyone knew and loved.

He also finally opened his eyes and realized that Hinata was crazy for him. When he finally asked her out, Sakura and Kakashi set off fireworks that said "finally!" in bright orange. Now, they were married and Hinata was expecting their first born any day now. They asked Sakura to be the godmother, as well as the delivery medic.

Which was only fitting. The Hokages wife and baby should have the best medic in the 5 villages. Which happened to be Sakura. Either she or Tsunade had personally trained all the medics in Leaf, and Tsunade was currently in Sand, helping to strengthen their medics as well. Tsunade actually told the whole village that Sakura had far surpassed Tsunade, and so Tsunade was going where she was needed.

Sakura also, surprise surprise, was an ANBU. She was actually on Kakashi's team as second in command as well as lead medic. Naruto had been on their team as well, until Tsunade retired and named Naruto as her successor. That was actually Sakura's reason for seeing Naruto; he had a new mission for her.

"Alright Naruto, lets get down to business. I don't know why you think it's a good idea to send me on a mission when your baby is due any day now, but you're in charge." Sakura really did question Naruto's sanity sometimes, and was about to do so once again when she looked up from the paper work that lay scattered on her desk at his face. "Naruto?"

"Sakura," he started with a pained look on his face, not meeting her emerald eyes. "If I could send anyone else, believe me I would. In fact, I wanted to go myself, but the council said that I couldn't put myself in harms way like that. Kakashi begged to go, but you told me yourself yesterday that he needs at least a week, if not more, to recover. And I like to think he would want to be here to see my kid. He might as well be the little guys grandfather." Naruto gave a nervous chuckle, looking anywhere but at her.

She was starting to get worried. "Naruto, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

Finally, he met her eyes. "Sakura, we have reports that Sasuke has been seen. Nearby. With Akatsuki."

Sakura's world spun as she stood up, grabbing Naruto's hands. "Are you sure? Have you checked and double-checked? It might be Itachi, you know how alike they look." She let go of his hands and looked out the window at the village, her emerald eyes gone hard. "I don't want to leave on another wild goose chase and risk Hinata or the baby." She looked back at him, fear shining in her eyes. "What if this is a trap? What if someone wants me to leave you so they can attack. You won't have your best medic, your top advisor, and one of your best fighters here with you."

"Sakura, believe me. I've checked and double-checked. I trust this source with my life, Hinata's life, and my unborn child's life. It's him. It isn't a trap. And I've already ordered Tsunade back here. You leave as soon as she gets back. I'm smart enough not to leave the village totally defenseless."

Sakura couldn't help herself. She smiled at him and found herself sighing. "Alright Naruto. I'll check it out. But don't get your hopes up too much. If I don't find anything within two days, I'm coming right back. We can try again after your baby is born."

**Yay new story! I'm on a role you guys. I'm still not totally sure where I'm going with this. But it's going to be good! Review guys!**

**I disclaim!**


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